Manchester United co-owners to spend over ₹9000 crore for RCB:8 participants in race to buy IPL champs, 5 bidders interested in RR

Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer has reportedly shown interest in buying Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). Glazer, who owns 48.9% stake in Manchester United, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS group owning 28.9%. RCB are currently owned by alcohol and beverage giants Diageo, while Manoj Badale’s Emerging Media owns Rajasthan Royals. RCB were put up for sale last year. A few days ago, RCB became the first franchise to become defending champions in both the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Women’s Premier League (WPL). Manchester United owners interested in buying RCB and RR According to ESPNCricinfo, Avram Glazer is reportedly to spend over a billion USD, which amounts to more than Rs 9,100 crore, to acquire RCB and RR. However, the report also adds that the projected bid for each franchise can also be more than the combined price of Rs 12,715 crore for which the BCCI sold Lucknow’s and Ahmedabad’s franchises in the IPL in 2021. The Glazer-owned Lancer Capital is the owner of the Desert Warriors franchise in UAE’s ILT20. Eight investors keen to buy RCB, four interested in acquiring RR As per the report, a total of eight investors have shown interest in buying RCB, while for RR, the shortlisted ones are five. The list of investors shortlisted for buying RCB are Lancer Capital (Avram Glazer), Manipal Group, Adar Poonawalla, Times Group, EQT Private Capital, Capri Global, US-based businessman Sanjay Govil, and Premji Invest. For Rajasthan Royals, Capri Global, Kal Somani, an Arizona-based tech investor, Times Group and Sanjay Govil are the other interested bidders apart from Lancer Capital. Adar Poonawalla expressed interest in buying RCB
On 22 January, Adar Poonawalla, the CEO and owner of the Serum Institute of India, had put out a tweet stating that he would be putting in a strong bid to buy RCB.
The last date for bidding for RCB is expected to be in February, while for RR, the last date reportedly is in the first week of March. The owners of the RR and RCB will have the final say in selling their respective franchises to the bidders winning the bid. It is also important to note that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will have to formally give consent to these deals.